Always something to be gained by attending an alumni gathering. Sometimes it’s just the satisfaction of realizing that you’re still alive and kicking–plenty of others aren’t, ya know.
Anyway, I went to the Alumni Days up at Hiram College and only spotted four people that I knew; I think that was the fewest in recent memory–of course, my memory is not what it once was either–two in my actual class and two wannabe’s with connections.
One of the persons that I knew–even in my class–was a presenter at the “Golden Terriers” Luncheon (which I originally thought was just for athletic stand-outs…not my claim to fame, girls couldn’t even play on school teams back in those dark ages ). Turns out he was reading from some of his books of poetry and I kinda liked the stuff, which is a little remarkable (and I am remarking on it right now, as a matter of fact), since I am still not always sure why something is called poetry if it doesn’t rhyme. This dude was also quite the scholar of Ohio history, especially interactions with the Native Americans and he had produced a number of tomes on those topics before turning to poetry. He also spoke of more recent topics, especially about the crime ambiance of this area, especially the mob connections in Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Youngstown (He grew up near Y-Town). Others chipped in details of being warned in their youth not to go anywhere near certain cities or neighborhoods, or being in some neighborhoods where the sounds of gunfire were not all that uncommon..
So…wait for it…I took the opportunity later at the the book sale table to tell all and sundry about how Garrettsville was the site of the last great (not THAT great–only $46K. There was supposed to be a huge payroll heading to the mills in Youngstown but a schedule got changed and the Karpis gang was let down at their take in the incident. They did get some jewelry and change from the robbed passengers.) train robbery in the United States,which launched the career of FBI chief, J.EdgarHoover, and was the origin of the school mascot of the James A. Garfield Local School District–the G-Man. I am sure that they were all suitably impressed.
Anyhoo, author and poet Bill Heath used the expression “curmudgeon’s lament” and I thought it perfectly described some of my wailings about how far we have all drifted from my concept of perfection (my way, of course)
Of course, it doesn’t rhyme either.
